Beyond School Improvement: The Journey to Innovative Leadership Carol Commodore, Ed.D. Leadership, Learning and Assessment , LLC NAESP Conference, April 10, 2010
Dec 27, 2015
Beyond School Improvement: The Journey to Innovative Leadership
Carol Commodore, Ed.D.Leadership, Learning and Assessment , LLC
NAESP Conference, April 10, 2010
World Is Changing at an Incredible SpeedDigital speed and innovative
technology are affecting every aspect of our lives▫Communication▫Economies▫Information▫Occupations/Professions▫Family life▫Learning
Today’s Elementary Students Will Retire Around the Year 2065
• What will their world look like?
• What will prepare them for a world
that we cannot even imagine?
The principal goal of education is to create people who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done—people who are creative, inventive discoverers.
Jean Piaget, renowned child psychologist and educator
The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.
Alvin Toffler, author and futurist
Schools for the Future?
•Can our schools continue to be
what they have been and still
prepare our students for an
ever-changing world?
More Than Just Improving Our Schools, Innovation is Also
Needed to Meet Today’s and Tomorrow’s Challenges
Technical Problem
Adaptive Challenge
⌘
“Redecorating”
Solve problems with what you already know
“Remodeling”
A new way must be learned to solve problems
Source: Davidovich, Nikolay, Laugerman and Commodore (2010), Beyond School Improvement., Corwin Press
CHALLENGES THAT LEADERS FACE
Leading for improvement
Leading for innovation
“Indeed, the single most common source of leadership failure we’ve been able to identify—in politics, community life, business, or the non-profit sector—is that people, especially those in positions of authority treat adaptive challenges like technical problems.”
Source: Heifetz and Linsky (2002) Leadership on the Line, Harvard Business School Press
Technical Problems &Adaptive Challenges
One leader’s technical problem is another leader’s adaptive challenge and vice versa.
Leaders face both types of challenges
Are you approaching changing yourself, your team or organization for the future as if it is a technical problem, or as if it is an adaptive challenge?
Are you hoping to help your organization get better or become different? How?
Take a Moment
Exa
mpl
e
The important challenge facing all leaders within organizations is to realize that both improving and innovating are necessary and that both need to be a part of their leadership repertoire.
Source: Davidovich, Nikolay, Laugerman and Commodore (2010), Beyond School Improvement., Corwin Press
Improve or Innovate?It involves knowing when to do which—
when to seek solutions within existing practice and when to seek solutions beyond what is currently possible.
Redesigning is making something different than what it is now without abandoning the essence of the system in place
ATTRIBUTES OF INNOVATIVE ORGANIZATIONS
Choose to be disturbedSelf-referencingAmplificationEngagement
Choose to be disturbed… means that you choose to be open
to an experience regardless of how
uncomfortable it makes you feel
trusting that it will result in
something better
Self-referencing…
occurs when we reference a
circumstance against a vision,
mission, set of beliefs, or
principles to guide our thinking
and creative energies
Amplification…
the process by which an idea
gains strength and grows into
something we may not have
thought even possible
Engagement…
when a new idea emerges and is
allowed to engage with existing
ideas to see what will develop
along the way
Example
Where am I at in my ability to nurture the Attributes of Innovation? Mark which of these characteristics your leadership encourages … and to what degree.
Disturbance:Minimizing disturbances………..Moving into disturbancesLooking for quick fixes……….....Exploring deeper issues
Self-referencing:Referencing needs of self……….Referencing “big picture”Referencing current practices….Referencing preferred
state
SELF-ASSESSMENT: Attributes of Innovation (To Do)
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.
John Quincy Adams
Leadership
Important DistinctionLeading for improvement and leading for innovation require different leadership attributes.
Improvement values:
Quantitative
measurement
Regulating
Stabilizing
Controlling variables
Standardization
Innovation values:
Ambiguity
Uncertainty
Letting
disturbances
create imbalance –
creating the space
for renewal and
adaptation
It is …easier for leaders to praise innovation in theory than to support it in practice.
Rosabeth Moss Kanter, author and professor
Develop the Courage to Leap
•Within you▫Courageous Conversation
•Within the organization▫Creating the conditions where innovative leaders can emerge from anywhere in the organization
Leadership Courage. . .possessing the ability to let go of past practice when necessary, to move into the void of uncertainty, take adaptive action while at times having only minimal information, and to develop the trust that allows others to follow to the new destination.
Innovating While Also Improving
Requires a different mindset; involves
innovative leadership practices
▫Embrace dissonance
▫Create context
▫Change field of perception
▫Let ideas collideSource:Davidovich, Nikolay, Laugerman and Commodore (2010), Beyond School Improvement., Corwin Press
Embrace DissonanceMeans developing sensitivity to
disturbances; to notice information that is inconsistent with your current mental models
▫Yields to uncertainty/ambiguity▫Is a humble learner who makes
connections▫Uses dissonance as a creative force▫Chooses to be disturbedSource:Davidovich, Nikolay, Laugerman and Commodore (2010), Beyond School Improvement., Corwin Press
Create ContextMeans to create a well-articulated and
deeply understood shared purpose where everyone knows why they are there and they feel free to act within that purpose to better the organization.
▫Creates freedom through referencing a shared vision and purpose
▫Keeps a structure through referencing policy/procedures
Source:Davidovich, Nikolay, Laugerman and Commodore (2010), Beyond School Improvement., Corwin Press
Change Field of PerceptionMeans changing your perception with
new information and feedback; viewing information in relationship to forming new ideas and amplifying their meaning
▫Increases the flow of information in the system
▫Encourages people to interact and interpret the information for themselves, creating ownership and empowerment
Source:Davidovich, Nikolay, Laugerman and Commodore (2010), Beyond School Improvement., Corwin Press
Let Ideas Collide
Is about creating the conditions for new responses to become the new norm—for the old ways to be replaced by new ways
▫Perceives order as an interactive process▫Holds together the bouncing around of
ideas through common purpose; new order comes about through structure and freedom
▫Understands that change is not linear
Source:Davidovich, Nikolay, Laugerman and Commodore (2010), Beyond School Improvement., Corwin Press
Example
As a team explore the following questions:
As an organization, do we view dissonance as a foe or an ally? Why or why not?
Is our organization currently committed only to stability and control or are we willing to move toward an environment of uncertainty and messiness?
What issues must we address right now? What courageous conversations must we have with ourselves and others?
Team Conversation Starters
Innovation events occur when new ideas are tried; innovative culture occurs when new ideas become ingrained in the way work is done.
Dave Ulrich, author and professor
Improvement Orientation
Innovation Orientation
Leader’s role Create stability
Use instability to create
meaning & relationships
Important mindset
Certainty and predictability
Uncertainty and ambiguity
Overarching value
Control Trust
Source: Davidovich, Nikolay, Laugerman, Commodore (2010), Beyond School Improvement: The Journey to Innovative Leadership, Corwin Press
Action Planning for the Innovating the Way You Lead
•Where do I want to be?•Where am I now?•How do I close the gap?
LEADERSHIP
“Excellence can be attained if YOU
…CARE more than others think is wise
…RISK more than others think is safe
…DREAM more than others think is
practical
…EXPECT more than others think is
possible.”Author Unknown
Contact Information
Pauli Nikolay [email protected]
Carol Commodore [email protected]
Bonnie Laugerman [email protected]
Websitewww.beyondschoolimprovement.com
Shaping Leadership for Innovative Schools and Districts•When: August 4-5, 2010•Where: Cardinal Stritch University,
Milwaukee, WI•Cost: $385 by June 15, $400 after June
15: includes cost of the seminar, continental breakfast, lunch, our book and seminar materials
•For more information or to express interest: Email [email protected] or call 414-410-4646